Article Posted on : - Sep 09, 2011

Soldiers from 3rd Battalion The Bihar Regiment taking part in Exercise Ajeya Warrior on Salisbury Plain. UK MoD.

LONDON (PTI): Assisted by British Chinook helicopters, Warrior Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Challenger Battle Tanks, soldiers from the Indian Army's 3rd Bihar Regiment has completed a counter-insurgency exercise in the UK.

The Indian soldiers from the 3rd Bihar regiment were here for four weeks of training alongside British troops from 19 Light Brigade as part of the bilateral military exercise 'Ajeya Warrior' at Salisbury Plain Training Area.

The 100 Indian Infantry soldiers were watched by commanding officer, Colonel Gahan Deep Singh and two senior officers, Major General Sunil Jha from the Indian Army's South West Command and Brigadier Sarb Jit Singh Deusi, commander of 83rd Infantry Brigade.

The Welsh soldiers were impressed by the professionalism of the Indian soldiers.

"They were very aggressive and determined and nothing was going to stop them," said Colour Sergeant Lee Harris.

"They knew what positions they needed to be in and were very quick. Many of their tactics were different from ours but they were very effective, they knew exactly what they had to do and how many soldiers to commit."

The soldiers of 3rd Bihar Regiment had arrived in the UK from their base in Rajasthan at the beginning of August.

Exercise 'Ajeya Warrior' has been simulating a scenario where both nations are working together on a joint operation, official sources said.

The British and Indian Armies have developed a close relationship over the past three years, Indian soldiers exercised with British troops in 2008 in the UK and last year a reciprocal Company exercise took place in India.

General Jha said, "We want to learn from each other and there has been a real meeting of minds on this exercise. Being able to sit down and talk about different tactics, drills, the amalgamation of technology and operations has been good for both sides".